We visited Florence mid October 2011 and, as usual, consulted trip advisor to help select our accommodation. Whilst it took us a while (and a noisy traipse across the city with our trolley suitcase) to get to the hotel, we were blown away with the location so close to Ponte Vecchio, and the Uffizi.
Some elements of the hotel felt a bit old fashioned (the many lamps took us a while to figure out) but overall it was very clean and comfortable with great sized rooms. We had a couple of drinks at the bar and found the staff friendly, and both enjoyed seeing what pattern would be on the top of our cappuccinos at breakfast.
The concierge got us tickets for the Uffizi for entry just a couple of hours after we asked too - very helpful.
We had a few issues with travel adaptors and some very strange sockets, but managed to remedy with a trip to the supermarket so probably just a lack of research on our part. The hotel is obviously made up of a few buildings and initially we found it a bit maze like to get to and from our room...
A great and comfortable base to explore the many sights Florence has to offer - whilst remaining surprisingly quiet.

We stayed at Hotel Berchielli last week for three days. The hotel is next to the Arno river, and has rooms that face the river which is Euro 90 dollars more compared with the other rooms. We did not stay at the room facing the river, but our room is nice because It has a spacious balcony. The bathroom has been remodeled and we like the color of tile very much. The breakfast serves start from 7 to 11, and the selection is pretty good. Various of pantry, juice, and the coffee we got has chocolate decoration!! The staff is professional, but they are not as friendly as the staff we met in Rome. They will do what you ask for, i.e. reserve restaurants, dry clean, reserve guide tours, however, they make you feel as if you are in a business trip.
Overall, I still recommend the hotel.

I always use tripadvisor as my bench mark and I am extremely disappointed that on this occasion I was let down. Although the location is superb, I had a dingy old room in the back of the hotel. It is exceptionally noisy, there is no natural light as it overlooks an alleyway and their is no extractor fan in the bathroom. Room was extremely old and in desperate need of a re-vamp. So all I can say, is if you are staying here, make sure you get a room with a view as clearly my experience was awful in comparison to the rave reviews

My wife and I visited Florence in late September 2011. Our room in the hotel had two balconies overlooking the Arno River. If we looked one way we saw the Ponte Vecchio and the other way was the Michaelangelo bridge. At sunset we sat with a glass of wine and listened to live music from the ponte vecchio and the conversations of the people walking on the streets below. With the doors shut you could hear nothing. In the morning our server drew a flower in my wife's capucino and a turtle in mine. It only enhanced what we saw in Florence from the Pitti palace and gardens to a Sunday competition of marching bands made up of people of all ages.